With a little help from knot theory, scientists have invented a “robust knit” to fight laddering

The “slop drop” contains a number of groundbreaking results, but how it was generated remains unclear and contentious

A mathematician may have solved a 250-year-old question about whether every polygon contains a path home

Armed with eclipse glasses, solar binoculars and random kitchen implements, Team Lewin set out to find the best way to look at Aug. 21's total solar eclipse.

Knowing what kind of tick bit you and where you got it can help inform next steps

There Is No Antimemetics Division explores how to survive when memories and meaning are malleable

Earth's ancient climate is written in... ostrich eggshells and stomach oil?

Millennia of a rodentlike animal’s urine preserve crucial data that could help scientists understand early humans’ leap forward

The autism spectrum is big, vibrant and complicated, a new graphic of 39 traits shows

On their voyages to the moon, NASA’s astronauts are finally getting some creature comforts of terrestrial toilets—such as having a door and being able to pee and poop simultaneously

For 20 years, this computational linguistics competition has inspired new generations of innovators in AI and language preservation

A pet cow named Veronika uses a tool in a surprisingly sophisticated way—possibly because she has been allowed to live her best life

The number pi emerges from one of the simplest, most symmetric shapes, yet it gives rise to endless complexity. This Pi Day, find out about some of the fascinating places pi pops up and the burning qu...

Mental math shortcuts suggest future STEM performance—and gender is a significant predictor

Scientific American talks to the author of When the Moon Hits Your Eye, one of our best fiction picks for 2025

Here are the 67 books Scientific American staffers couldn’t put down this year, from fantasy epics to gripping nonfiction

Kendra Pierre-Louis steps in as interim host and dives into the science behind why some foods—especially mayonnaise—can gross us out.

There are 856 mammal, bird, amphibian and reptile species currently missing—but researchers continue to search

After decades of speculation, two writers uncovered the answer to the Kryptos code’s final cipher

Advances coverage from Scientific American, featuring news and articles about advances in the field.